Jason Jones reported that 14 coaches on the committee returned the Budget Survey that was sent out three weeks ago. The information gathered from the survey will be used to illustrate the buying power of volleyball coaches and assist the AVCA in developing sales proposals for potential sponsors. Coaches should also watch their e-mail for the annual Salary Survey in September and a Member Needs Survey in October.

During the August meeting it was suggested that coaches needed a purchase order or invoice option when renewing their membership online. The AVCA is working with its technology group to make the PO/invoice option available for membership renewal and this should be done prior to the next meeting. In addition, at the August meeting the committee discussed recruiting more DIII coaches to become members of the AVCA. It was suggested that a current DIII member list would help coaches determine who is a member so they can talk to those who are not members when the opportunity arises. That list is available and will be e-mailed to the committee.

AVCA convention registration began on August 30 and has started very well. As of September 11 the AVCA had received 152 convention registrations compared to 49 on September 11, 2005. Coaches should have received a postcard in the mail and an e-mail announcing that convention registration was open. Another postcard and several e-mails will be sent to members over the next couple of months promoting the convention as well. All coaches are encouraged to register for the convention as soon as possible in order to make sure they get an NCAA match ticket.

Kelly Stumph asked all coaches to update their SIDs on tracking stats for the awards programs. The AVCA Awards Committee has asked that service attempts, assist attempts and reception attempts be kept as a way to help determine postseason awards. Many SIDs are struggling to keep these specific statistics during matches. Kelly announced that student-athletes will not be penalized if service attempts, assist attempts and reception attempts are not kept. Reception attempts are included on the NCAA scoresheet so those should be easier to record.

II. Legislation Discussion

Hugh Hernesman discussed three issues that are being considered for possible legislation:

1) Club radius expanded to 100 miles for DIII coaches

2) Regulation to allow on-campus tryouts

3) Increasing practice opportunities prior to the beginning of the season

The feeling from the discussion was that the expanded radius to 100 miles would be possible to get passed but the on-campus tryouts and increased practice opportunities would be more difficult. With the current legislative cycle any legislative changes would not take effect until August 2008. In order to get legislation passed it must be presented by a certain number of schools or multiple conferences. Jeanne has invited Kris Russell, the legislative representative for DIII, to join in on the October meeting to provide more details on these issues.

III. DIII Poll Feedback

Mark Massey led a discussion on the credibility of the DIII poll. Coaches should be educated on how the polling process works and use due diligence when casting their vote. It is important for coaches to educate themselves on teams around the country and not just in their own region for the poll to be credible. In the future, the AVCA will schedule a conference call for poll voters prior to the season so all voters will understand what it takes to do the job well. Also, Mark is going to work on developing a document for poll voters that discusses voting philosophies, things to consider when voting, where to find information, ect. The committee will discuss the document at the October or November meeting.

IV. Game Management Survey

Becky Schmidt and others have results available from the game management survey that was taken at the convention. These results provide coaches and administrators with information on common issues schools face with game management. Feedback on the survey results has been positive so Becky will work with the AVCA to make these results available online.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m. ET. The next call is scheduled for Monday, October 2 at 11 a.m. ET.